As I've been discontinuing the Reviews pages in favour of adding everything to the History pages, I haven't been updating this "site updates" section because sometimes I could be just sent some support band info or a venue name change or something smallish, and that probably doesn't count as an update as such...

I dunno - maybe I'll just post info here in future of the last 5 bits of info I've changed, and ignore the length...

Ackowledgements - I've basically stopped adding names to the bottom of this page as the list was getting too long - what I'm doing now is adding names at the foot of the relevant History pages - makes more sense that way anyway, I think...

Check out the new "History Project" in which I attempt to give an accurate day-by-day, gig-by-gig chronology of the history of the band - starting with the SWU and then through the years right up to yesterday...

These years have images included:

1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993

These years currently only consist of text and the images will be added as soon as I can:

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

If you have any information for inclusion on any year, please send it along and I'll add it to the relevant page.

And if you can, scan in your ticket stubs, newspaper ads, flyers, gig posters and to me for inclusion...

Laying out these pages is proving tough going with lots of unknowns and conflicting gig information!! As well as sending me any scans or info as mentioned above, could I ask if you could check in your attic or basement for old '70s/'80s copies of the following magazines:

• Billboard
• Variety
• Performance
• Amusement Business
• Rolling Stone
• Circus

Or any music magazine which carried gig listings and/or reviews...

If you do have some, please check through them for any contemporaneous BOC gig data and get in ...

Another way you could help is by jotting down a list of the known gigs played in your particular town, and then popping down to your local library to visit their archive/microfiche department.

Once ensconced in a comfortable chair, you might check out the back issues of the local paper and see if there any adverts for the show (pre-gig) or any reviews (post-gig). If there are, print them out and send me scans.

I don't ask for much, do I?

And if anyone's passing Stonybrook University's library, I know for a fact they have reviews of some SWU/SFG gigs printed in backcopies of the University magazine...

OK - here are the UK dates announced so far:

1. Sun 08 June 2008: The Brook, Southampton
2. Mon 09 June 2008: The Robin 2, Bilston (near Wolverhampton)
3. Tue 10 June 2008: Regent Theatre, Ipswich
4. Wed 11 June 2008: The Forum, London
5. Thu 12 June 2008: Picturedrome, Holmfirth (Note date change)
6. Fri 13 June 2008: Academy, Newcastle
7. Sat 14 June 2008: Renfrew Ferry, Glasgow
8. Sun 15 June 2008: Academy, Manchester (Note date change)

Holmfirth!! F*ck me!! This is the "Deal" of this tour, and no mistake... I have to go....

After years of moaning about wouldn't it be nice to hire BOC to play a special Fans Only event, some folk are at last trying to turn this into a reality. Here's their idea:

The fans at www.bocfans.com are attempting to raise the funds to make the ultimate BOC fans' dream show a reality. We've been given, via one of our members, the tentative go ahead by the band to set up a show in the New York area whereby the hardcore fans will have the opportunity to suggest the songs they would like to hear and the band could then create and rehearse a setlist they think we would like to hear. We already have a very promising potential venue lead with a possible date around the weekend of 31st October to 2nd November.

This is where you come in. Money is being collected in the form of donations from those who want to attend this show and we are sure many of you will want to attend too. A donation can be of any amount but if below the eventual ticket price you will have to make up the difference and if above it will be considered as seed money - should there be any eventual return on the seed money it would be disbursed proportionally back to the donors. Should we not be able to raise enough money to fund the show or the show not come to pass for other reasons then all monies will be refunded in full to the donors. Those who donate will of course be given preferred status when it comes to seats on a first come first served basis in order of date the donation was made. If you don't have funds available right now you can still make a pledge and pay later or even pay in installments if you want.This show will NOT be made available to the general public until the donors all get seats and the public will be allocated whatever is left.

We are also gathering setlist recommendations either in the various polls in the forums at www.bocfans.com or you can email your choice of up to 3 songs when you make your donation using the secure payment page . Please bear in mind that there is no guarantee your song choices will be played, it's our idea that we will submit a list of the songs we'd most like to hear but of course the band will decide the setlist.

You can find out more at www.bocfans.com, we're updating all the time as details become clearer and will of course advise you soonest. Come join in the discussions and put forward your ideas to help make this the greatest ever fans event or you can make your donations and choices of up to 3 songs at https://j-and-a.readyhosting.com/forms/bocdonate.html.

We'd love for you to join us all on the forum and especially at this show, it's going to be a once in a lifetime event for all of us who are serious fans of the amazing Blue Oyster Cult.

See you there,
from the Fans at www.bocfans.com

Three more dates have been added to BOC's June European jaunt - here's what we have so far:

1. 04 June 2008: Stazione Birra, Rome, Italy
2. 05 June 2008: Melina Merkouri Theatre, Athens, Greece
3. 06 June 2008: Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands
4. 07 June 2008: Sweden Rock Festival, Sölvesborg, Sweden

Acording to Pollstar, BOC are playing the Sweden Rock Festival at Solvesborg on Saturday 7 June 2008.

Keep an eye out to see how this develops...

Please sign the Petition to get Blue Oyster Cult inducted into the Rock'n'Roll hall of fame:

1. Over 35 years of touring!
2. Four top 40 hits!
3. Over 14 million records sold
4. Eight gold albums, two platinum discs
5. Major influence on many bands, including Metallica

• http://myspace.com/boc4hof

Well, despite promises to the contrary, Allen Lanier still hasn't yet resurfaced. For last night's Blasdell gig, a familiar face was back on bass - Danny Miranda! The Queen show must be on a hiatus.

Impressively, the multi-talented Richie Castellano has switched to guitar and keyboards - is there any limit to this guy's flexibility? If Jules ever misses a gig, I wouldn't be surprised to see Richie with a couple of cymbals between his knees and a kickdrum...

Seriously, I hope Allen gets better soon - I'm hoping the extra-prolonged absence might mean he's getting himself sorted out... fingers crossed...

Some Enchanted Evening Remastered
Release Date: 14th Feb 2007

Alastair (alg) has just let me know the release date for this - it's 14th Feb 2007 so you won't be seeing this nice little item in your Chrimbo stockings...

Here's his original post on the J&A Board (courtesy of his brother who works for Sony):

Some Enchanted Evening is Blue Oyster Cult's best selling live album and second best seller after another of the band's classic releases, Agents Of Fortune. This Legacy Edition expands the original audio release to the 73-minute double-album length it was once planned to be and also includes a second disc, Some OTHER Enchanted Evening, a semi-bootleg DVD of concert footage shot on the same 1978 tour. What it lacks in perfection, it more than makes up in performance. Now you can go back in time and be there, witnessing the Cult do what they do best, dominate the live arena! Prepare to submit!

CD
1. R.U. Ready 2 Rock
2. E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)
3. Astronomy
4. Kick Out The Jams
5. Godzilla
6. (Don't Fear) The Reaper
7. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place

BONUS TRACKS:
8. ME 262
9. Harvester Of Eyes
10. Hot Rails To Hell
11. (This Ain't The) Summer Of Love
12. 5 Guitars
13. Born To Be Wild
14. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (Alternate Version)

DVD
Some OTHER Enchanted Evening
Recorded 1978 direct to 3/4 inch video at The Capitol Center, Landover, MD
Previously Unreleased Live Recording
Live Mix by George Geranios

1. R.U. Ready 2 Rock
2. E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)
3. Harvester Of Eyes
4. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
5. Golden Age Of Leather
6. Astronomy
7. ME 262
8. Kick Out The Jams
9. (This Ain't The) Summer Of Love
10. 5 Guitars
11. Born To Be Wild

Original Recordings Produced by Sandy Pearlman, Murray Krugman, Blue Oyster Cult
Produced for Reissue by Bruce Dickinson
Mastered by Vic Anesini at Sony Music Studios, New York

A DVD from 1978??!! This is chicken-chokingly good news - I can't wait...

In all this DVD-related excitement, I should also mention Spectres Remastered is also coming out with four extra tracks from the Spectres sessions, so keep an eye out for that also...

Finally, the long-awaited second CD offering "Beyond the Valley of the X" from Joe Bouchard's band the X Brothers has been released at last on AHE and is currently available on CD Baby where you can also hear samples of all the tracks.

I've had "Beyond the Valley of the X" on repeat play for the best part of the last couple of weeks and thought I'd share a few of my thoughts on what I think is a great album.

"Blue Oyster Cult Secrets Revealed" by Martin Popoff: UPDATE

Martin Popoff tells me that he's bought up the last few remaining copies of his "Blue Oyster Cult Secrets Revealed" book from the publishers, Metal Blade Records Inc, and will be selling them for $25 (plus p&p) direct via his website.

These are the last ones left from the 2nd print run, and, as there are no plans to reprint any more, this represents your last chance to get a copy if you haven't already. Weirdly, copies are currently appearing on eBay for over $60!! And that's before they've run out!!

The book is a great read for any BOC fan. It devotes a chapter to each BOC record and examines them track-by-track, using a mixture of personal interviews with the author as well as reprinted quotes from various online and print-based sources, to tell the story of their genesis.

I enjoyed it, although, inevitably almost, some songs get the full treatment, whilst other songs get little more than a paragraph... Still, all in all, it's a book you have to get a hold of, so check out the BOC page on his site soon and order your copy before you get disappointed.

Click here to see a sample review of Cultosaurus Erectus to see what you're missing.

Everyone will be glad to see the return of Allen Lanier after he was taken suddenly ill during the UK tour and was forced to fly home early and miss the last three gigs.

People say you don't know what you've got til it's gone (isn't that a Joan Jett song?) and we really missed Allen in those last shows so Allen - stay well and keep out of the heat!!

Check out Eric Bloom's new guitar site and start saving those pennies...

When asked for his opinion, Buck said on his board: "First I'm seeing of these Eric Bloom Guitars. A well kept secret they were. I have no idea who made 'em. Nice paint.

I don't have any guitars like this, 'cause I play my guitars, and they get dings and chips in them, and the backs get marked from belt buckles. Couldn't bear to see such nice artwork get messed up."

Apologies about the late updates to the site - my computer has died (fecking Steve Jobs!!) so I'm having to borrow one to do anything and it's slow going... your patience is appreciated...

In the middle of an email about the forthcoming X Brothers CD, Joe mentioned this BOC news:

You asked if I would care to leak any info out about the extra tracks to be included with the next round of BOC remasters, well, my lips are sealed. The only thing I can say is they're going to be great. Far better than the reissues of the past.

Regal Tones Reunion!!
Cellsum brings us the exciting news that Albert and Joe's original home-town high-school band, the Regal Tones are reuniting "on July 8th 2006 for a special benefit show in Clayton NY. "

"Details are being worked out but it will be a long sweet trip down memory lane."

I asked Albert for some more details. Here's what he said:

Well, this will be the first time we will have played together since 1965. The Regal Tones played over 400 shows in their career. We had a repertoire of over 220 songs but will probably only play 40 or so at this show.

It is a one off but it will be well documented I think. We will probably have opening acts that will be our nieces and nephews. A number of them have bands.

It is a benefit for 2 charities. The Ryan Russell Memorial Scholarship Fund (our cousin once removed) and the Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Research Fund.

If you click the image above, it opens up a newspaper clipping which mentions the Regal Tones were in a Battle of the Band finals. I asked how they did in this competition:

We actually did win that battle of the bands. We lost other smaller contests but that was the biggest one in the area. It was a multi-day event with 2 run-off rounds before the final. So to win we actually had to win 3 contests. In the final we played This Diamond Ring, She Turns Me On (an original) and Johnny B Goode. We were the only band in the area to play original tunes.
Al

PS We will be wearing uniforms

Latest Remasters on the horizon???
There's talk on J&A via MarkÖ's vegas4boc.com site that the next batch of four Sony Legacy remasters will be surfacing soon. It all seems word of mouth at the moment so facts are hard to come by, but keep your ears to the ground for news should this exciting info prove to be accurate...

Update: Buck has since confirmed on the BDTE that "Work has commenced on the next round of re-issues."

The BOC UK online community was shocked and saddened today to learn of the tragic death of Andrew Aston, aka "Grinning Boy", who collapsed and died this morning.

Anyone who's ever travelled to see a UK BOC gig will have come across Andrew with his bag of BOC goodies to hand out.

He was an ever-present figure on the British BOC landscape and it's hard to imagine going to any future Blue Oyster Cult show and him not being there.

I still can't quite take this in, to be honest. I'm no good in these sort of situations - I never know what to say or how to express what I feel - but what I can say though is that he's going to be greatly missed and my heart goes out to his family, friends and Karen in particular.

RIP, Andrew - I'm now going to put on the first BOC LP and raise a glass - a big glass - to your memory... take it easy, mate...

PS: If you've ever come across Andrew at a gig - or even just online - please consider sharing your memories by sending a contribution to the Andrew Aston - On Tour Forever page.

Atlanta Georgia... RU Ready 2 Rock???
Well, this coming Friday/Saturday (9 & 10th Sept), you can bet on it!! The city will be playing host to the Jack&Alma birthday bash so the main J&A board admin will have to take care of itself for the weekend.

Purely coincidentally, a certain rock band will be playing the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheatre in Peachtree City at the same time so who knows - maybe the two events will collide?

Amongst the planned attendees will be Sam Judd, ex-BOC roadie and gig announcer for so many years... anyone who's heard the KBFH 75 intro will appreciate his ability to whip the crowd into a state of frenzied readiness...

I dunno, it'd be nice to hear Sam perform that intro just one more time... oh well, happy birthday Jack and I hope everyone has a great time!!!

I just got asked by Albert Bouchard to make a change in the Songatorium:

"Hi Ralph:
I noticed a mistake that's been getting repeated, especially since it's on the BOC remasters and that is that I wrote over half of Buck's Boogie. I do get paid on it from Sony but people should know. Maybe if the Brain Surgeons did it and I called it "Al's Boogie". What do you think? Nah, not the same ring is it?

I dunno, sounds good to me... but then, I'm biased...

Well, they did it - the first BuckMinus show ever. Read a show report here: Evergreen Show Report.

It doesn't look like Buck will make tonight's Loveland, Colorado gig either but he has said that he hopes to make the short California run on Sept 2-4. Fingers crossed.

Well, you're not going to believe this but tonight's gig in Monroe WA at the Evergreen State Fair is going to take place after all. Buck's been ill lately and when it was realised that he wasn't going to be able to make it, earlier reports had BOC cancelling the show.

Not so!! The show must go on, says Eric and so the folk who turn up tonight will see 4OC - with Richie Castellano apparently taking on the lead guitar duties. Wow! If he pulls it off, that will be something pretty special!!

Sandy Pearlman comes to London
Sandy Pearlman is making a personal appearance at the Purcell Rooms in London's South Bank Centre (Royal Festival Hall) on Thursday 23rd June at 7.15pm.

He will be doing a lecture entitled "Fast, Cheap and Out of Control" and the event will be part of the Meltdown festival, hosted by Patti Smith and which also features concerts over several nights including performances by Television, Eels and Patti Smith herself.

Find out more here (includes a ticket link).

You do? Then Tom, Andy and John of the Louisville Traders would like to hear from you. I'll let John take up the story:

"Some of you know that I have recently taken over as caregiver to the BOC Bolle Gregmar Tradeable Tape collection of which I am currently transfering to cd for open trades. I have been given the responsibility along with this to seek out shows that are not in the collection as well as keeping the collection growing with any new shows available. I am seeking new show tapers to help build the collection and old shows that have not found their way to the trading block. If you know that you have taped a show and have not forwarded it to Bolle, even if it is a show listed, then I am interested in that also. The quality of the show doesn't matter, there is room for all. I made a promise to Bolle that I would carry on the collection as if he still had it, and I plan to keep that promise. I am randomly transfering these shows so if you have something that I am interested in and see a show that you want, I will transfer it for you to finish the trade.

"One easy way to see the list from the "Bolle" collection is to go to the BOC website, go to "tour dates", click on " tour dates of yore" select what year that you are interested in. Any date listed in red is a part of the Bolle collection. Now here is a very important part. Click on the red date and you can see the setlist. In the left column, you will see that it has either..."audience", "radio ", or "soundboard" on the shows. I have/ am getting the "audience" and the "radio" tapes from Bolle.

"That does not mean that I do not have some of the others, but this means that I have/ am getting the original tapes so you know that you are getting the earliest generation possible.

"One thing that I do need everyone's help with is to seek out the e-bay'ers and warn me who they are so that I do not trade with these people. If you tell me someone's name, I will promise you that I will keep it between us. I do not want this collection spread across e-bay. Preservation is the #1 reason that I wanted this collection in the 1st place. Just think about this for a minute. Bolle, Melne and a lot of people went to great lengths to seek out, collect and keep this collection.....and they did it for us. Everyone of us should find a way to thank them for this. We are the one's benefitting from their kindness. It is up to us to preserve this treasure...which just happens to be, the musical history of our great band...."The Amazing Blue Oyster Cult".

Here's a link to their trading site so check it out and get in touch with them if you have anything.

Cover Art
Looking for some cover art for your BOC CD? Or maybe you've created some that you'd like to share? Tony O'Rourke (Wrax) has thoughtfully started to add links to all known Blue Oyster Cult artwork on his BOC list page here - why not check it out and let him know if you have a link for him to add to his collection.

Also - why not check out redcapsplace.com - Mark's got a big list of tapes also...

Remember the first time you ever saw Blue Oyster Cult? You do? Then why not jot down your recollections of that wonderful day and send them along for me to include on this site.

A lot of the accounts will already be included elsewhere on Hot Rails in the form of individual gig reviews, but I thought it'd be interesting to extract just those stories that dealt with people seeing BOC for the very first time.

Click here to visit the page.